The embodiments described herein generally relate to heat exchangers and, more particularly, to a multi-layer, multi-fluid heat exchanger, as well as a method of distributing flow within a fluid layer of such multi-layer heat exchangers.
In multi-layer and multi-fluid plate and fin heat exchangers, fluid ports are required to be located on the side of the heat exchanger. However, the fluid flow is perpendicular to the direction in which the fluid in introduced into the heat exchanger via the fluid port. In order to turn the flow to the correct direction, angled fin sections are used. In heat exchangers that have “tented” ends, multiple angled fin sections are required. Often, five or more separate fin sections are required per fluid layer. Such configurations result in increased part count, more complicated fabrication, and therefore increased overall cost.